


Hyperventilation Dance

by NightmareWolf



Series: EW Highschool AU [3]
Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Not Shippy, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 13:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16995780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightmareWolf/pseuds/NightmareWolf
Summary: It hurts to have to die like this.





	Hyperventilation Dance

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY SO THIS IS VERY MUCH HEADCANON BASED AND A LIL' PERSONAL SO KEEP THAT IN MIND  
> also had this idea for a while. Listening to Hyperventilation Dance by Nashimoto-P helped me further some ideas sO there

_The slam of the pitiful wooden door would be the last loud noise he heard, as everything beyond the door was now muffled. Still, it was too loud. It was all too loud._

Edd didn't really know why he agreed to this. Well, actually, he did know. He only did it for Matt. They never really teach _realistic_ peer pressure in school, do they? That not all peer pressure is about drugs—mostly it's just doing something you're not comfortable with. How the people pressuring you aren't usually doing it of ill intent. Rather, they just don't understand why you're so afraid. They guilt trip and give you a false sense of choice that you know doesn't matter, and that you have to say yes.

But, digression aside.

Edd wasn't the type to give into peer pressure. He was the defiant, assertive type. Whether he liked that about himself he didn't know, but it did come in handy. He'd tell people who were bothering him to "fuck off" before he could even think of what he was saying. So that's why it was pretty odd that he found himself to not automatically rejecting the request. Sure, he tried his best to drop hints that he _didn't_ want to go and that he _didn't_ want to do this, but Matt is oblivious and terrible at picking up on hints and social cues despite how sarcastic he is. For whatever reason, Edd _couldn't_ find it in himself to yell or assertively put down his foot and tell Matt a simple _no._ He ended up just...agreeing. Very, very reluctantly. But agreeing nonetheless.

And it's pretty funny, because this is the kind of thing teens wouldn't turn down. The kind of thing they'd want to be a part of. A party with movies, games, and free fuckin' food? Hell yeah!

And, of course, Edd loves all those things, too (if his weight was any indication of that). What bothered him was the fact that this party was: One, not small. Two, good chance somebody's going to bring alcohol. Or even drugs. Highschoolers were crazy, after all.

But that's what ultimately terrified Edd. Being around a bunch of people _he didn't know_ that had access to _alcohol and possibly drugs_. It's practically why he dreaded going, counting down the days (which weren't many...probably five) like a kid counting down till Christmas. Only difference being if Christmas was a holiday were you could die. German Christmas?

Point is: Edd was terrified. Every time he thought about it his hands would shake and his body felt gross and uncomfortable. He was too afraid to tell Matt, he was afraid of being mocked or his friend demanding an explanation. The thought of having to explain himself was what shamed him further into hiding his worries.

He told himself that it wouldn't be that bad, that nothing bad was going to happen. That he was a stronger person now and could handle himself. And, he almost believed it. He managed to feel confident as Matt (who had recently acquired a driver's license) drove himself, Edd, and Tom to the location. Even inside the building with it being dark both inside and outside, there being glaringly loud music and talking and the only light was from a projector was was hooked up to a Nintendo Wii—he managed to stay calm, even if his heart was pounding and his legs were trembling. He spent around the first ten minutes watching some Mario Kart tournament, which he would've happily partaken in had he not been so overcome with anxiety. Tom had gone off somewhere, Edd wasn't paying attention. He didn't see Matt in the room he was in, either. But that was fine. He was okay.

Another several minutes passed. Twenty, maybe. They had switched the game to Smash Bros. Brawl. Again, Edd merely observed. Though, when you're anxious, the yelling of competitive players around you doesn't help very much.

It took him a little more than half an hour to find the strength to walk out of the room he was in and just...explore, he supposed. The other rooms weren't quite as crowded. Some were pretty quiet, actually. Not yelling like the tournament room, just several people having a conversation. It was...a nice change, to say the least. But he still couldn't find his friends. And, truthfully, he didn't feel like talking to these strangers, even if they looked nice.

An hour in, he was sitting at a table in one of the larger rooms. It was like a substitute kitchen. There was a table with some snacks, a couch and a Tv...all the necessities for a basement dweller, really (despite this not being the basement). But instead of watching whatever movie was on the Tv he just sat on a tall chair in the back, too apprehensive to do much. It was like all the worry he had experienced was tightening his muscles, making it feel like he had just ran a mile despite barley moving this entire time.

When he had finally moved back to a more populated room, he was scared off by the unmistakable smell of alcohol. It's weird—just like how it seems your sadness can increase tenfold when somebody asks if you're okay, you're anxiety can increase tenfold when one little thing off puts you. The next moments were a flash and Edd honestly had no clue what he was doing until he did it. He just knew he was _scared_ and _dizzy_ and everything was too _loud_. He had yanked a previously closed door open and ran in, slamming it shut behind him.

The slam of the pitiful wooden door would be the last loud noise he heard, as everything beyond the door was now muffled. Still, it was too loud. It was all too loud.

He tried running, but gasped and yelped when he tripped down a short flight of stairs. With this room being pitch black, he had no clue there were stairs in front of him. Luckily for him, it wasn't a big flight, so he didn't get seriously injured. However, hitting your body as you fall down onto cold concrete floor and twisting your ankle hurt like hell nonetheless. Edd let out a loud, sharp inhale, choking out a sob. Fuck. Great. Now not _only_ was he panicking, he had just fucked his ankle up. Nice. Fantastic.

He didn't want to move, his body hurt really bad and he was too scared. Where was he? He couldn't see anything. It was entirely dark. His vision was dotted with faint green and pink noise to compensate for the total lack of light. The floor was hard and cold, and all he could hear were muffled noises. He frantically looked around as if he would be able to see anything, repeating this process until he was dizzy and his neck got tired. He scuttled across the floor, not using his left ankle in fear of further injury. The farther he got, the more distant the sound became. He could hear his racing heartbeat and heavy, quick breathing over everything else. His breathing only got faster and faster as he choked out sobs through a tightened throat. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to get hurt _somebody was going to find him and hurt him he was going t o die he w asgoing todiehewasgoingtodie_

He pitifully curled his body up on the cold floor, hyperventilating and sobbing. He was so scared. He wanted to be home. Please, please just take him home. He didn't want to be here. he didn't want to see _him_. He wanted to leave right now. He could taste blood in his mouth. He was dying, wasn't he? 

_Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out._

It hurts. It hurts to breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He was suffocating. _He couldn't fucking breathe_. 

"Help! Please! Help!" He cried out as loudly as he could, his voice cracking and wavering. He didn't think anybody would hear him. Everything sounded and felt distant. His entire body was trembling. He felt like he was going to throw up or pass out—he felt like the air was weighing down and crushing him. Please, please breathe. Just breathe. Please, please please _please_.

He tried scampering over to the stairs again, but where were they? What direction? How far away was he? Where was he? He needed help. God, he needed help. But he was stuck in total darkness. His throat was tightening and soon he would suffocate and die his chest was too tight and his head was swirling and oh God please—

He must have ran into something, because he let out a gasp as he hit his head on something that proceeded to be followed with a loud _crash_. Something, or a lot of things, had fallen. Oops.

That really didn't help Edd's current state. he curled in on himself again, crying and breathing loudly. His hands tightly clenched the fabric of his hoodie, giving him something solid to hold onto. Even when he squeezed his eyes shut, it was no brighter than the darkness he was surrounded in. Anything could be near him. Anyone or anything could hurt him and he had no way of knowing.

"Hello?"

Edd shot up immediately upon hearing a voice. he saw some faint light—presumably from where the stairs were. Was this a hallucination? Was he dead? What was going on?

He heard some foot steps on the creaky stairs, making his breathing even more violent.

"I heard something fall. Anyone down here?"

"Help!" Was Edd's immediate response. Hopefully he wasn't imagining things. Please let this be somebody who would save him. He couldn't die like this. He didn't want to. He hated sounding this desperate and scared, but he couldn't help it. Each passing second he felt more like he was going to die. Everything only got tighter. The atmosphere only became heavier. His arms only became weaker and the pain in his body only became stronger.

He heard more footsteps; they sounded like they were running this time. There was a pause and then a light flicked on. A flashlight of some sort. Seeing light after what felt like an eternity in this dark abyss was almost frighting in itself. He was about to scream for help again until the person seemed to finally spot him, evident of the light suddenly blinding his eyes. The light got bigger, and bigger, and, and,

"Oh, Jesus Christ," the voice sounded familiar but Edd was far too busy panicking to even figure out who was speaking to him. They sounded extremely worried, though. "Edd—Edd, are you okay!?"

The person dropped down onto their knees in front of Edd, angling the light so it was in the middle and not blinding Edd's eyes anymore. Only now being able to visually see the individual did he know who it was.

"M-Matt?" Edd choked out hoarsely. It almost sounded inaudible between the stutters and the hyperventilation. It almost didn't sound like Edd.

"Edd! Why—Why are you bleeding? What happened? Do I need to call the police?" Matt quickly spoke, his voice stern and very, very worried.

"I-I—" Edd hiccuped, fresh tears flooding down his face. "I want—I can't breathe."

Silence. Matt didn't respond at first, as if mentally debating on how to even do so. When given a lack of reply, Edd said more forcefully, "Please, _please,_ I can't _breathe._ "

"Uh, just, uh..." Matt hesitantly pulled Edd closer to him, feeling how quickly the other's heartbeat was racing and how fast he was breathing. Matt wasn't too smart with this stuff, but he's learned from Tom that this was probably Edd having a panic attack. What were you supposed to do when those happen, again? "Right, just follow my breathing, okay? Even if it's, like, hard and stuff," Matt awkwardly tried to explain, hoping he was even doing this right. He started taking in slow deep breathes, hoping Edd would do the same.

And luckily for the both of them, it helped. It took a good minute or two, but Edd was able to push through and get his breathing back on track even if he felt even closer to passing out while doing so. But once his breathing was normal again, he felt a lot better. Well, he felt like he could breathe again which helped a lot, to be more specific.

After several minutes of silent tears and trembling, Matt hesitantly spoke again.

"So...uh, are you...did something happen?"

Edd took in an unsteady breath, saying, "Y-Yeah."

"Uhm, mind telling me?"

"I—Sure, just...just let's stay like this for a few minutes."

**Author's Note:**

> hope this wasnt too cringey hm.  
> might make a part 2 who knows


End file.
